Watercooler Stories

ELKHART, Ind., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An Indiana woman gave birth to a baby girl aboard a trolley in front of a local courthouse one day before she was scheduled to be induced.

Skylla Hurt of Elkhart said she was scheduled to be induced Wednesday, but she went into labor a day early while riding a trolley in front of the Goshen courthouse, WBND-TV, South Bend, Ind., reported Wednesday.

"I was heading to the bus station or trolley station and I was calling my OB doctor to let them know I was having labor, contractions really bad. And when I got on the trolley it became faster and harder and then we got to the courthouse -- it came out," Hurt said.

Hurt said she named the baby girl Autumn Dawn.

'Pokertox' masks poker players' 'tells'

NEW YORK, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A New York doctor said his "Pokertox" service consists of Botox treatments for card players who need help keeping their faces still during games.

Dr. Jack Berdy, a doctor of aesthetic medicine on Manhattan's East Side, said his "Pokertox" treatments are designed to "allow people to gain a poker face" using the treatments meant to reduce wrinkles and other facial lines, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

"Very few people can maintain a real poker face," Berdy said. "They have some 'tells,' some expression that gives away that they have a good hand or a bad hand."

"We can inject Botox appropriately" to mask the "tells," Berdy said.

The doctor said his "Pokertox" treatments cost an average $600 to $800 and the benefits last for about three to four months.

Mysterious tiles taken in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Residents of St. Louis said the last two remaining tiles of a mysterious decades-old mosaic have disappeared from the city's downtown.

The tiles at Sixth and Olive streets, which together read "Toynbee Idea In Kubrick's 2001 Resurrect Dead On Planet Jupiter," were first placed 25 years ago and the final two tiles were taken by a man during the summer, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.

Similar tiles have been found in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Washington, Baltimore, Cleveland and cities in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

The mysterious origins of the tiles were the subject of a documentary film last year titled "Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles."

Kelley Huonker, 30, of St. Louis, said she went in search of the tiles in August and was told by a security guard that they had been removed by a man two weeks earlier.

"(The guard) said he asked the guy what he was doing, and the guy said that a documentary had been made about these things and they're going to be worth a lot of money someday," Huonker said.

The tiles are thought to be a reference to English historian Arnold Toynbee, whose theory on regenerating dead molecules appeared in Stanley Kubrick's movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Psychologist slams 'Santa' smartphone apps

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An Australian psychologist says smartphone apps allowing parents to send their naughty children phone calls from Santa "are not useful" and "could be abused."

Dr. John Irvine said the smartphone apps -- including the free "Fake Call From Santa" app and the $1.99 "Parents Calling Santa" app -- are "not productive" methods of behavior correction, The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, reported Wednesday.

"These kinds of apps have made the Santa threat much more real and immediate and they could be abused by some parents in the lead-up to Christmas Day," he said. "What is the point in threatening something that you are not going to carry out? Is mum really going to cancel presents on Christmas Day?

"Empty threats are not useful as kids soon realize that there are no consequences," he said.

The "Fake Call from Santa" app includes an incoming call with audio, but the "Parents Calling Santa" app allows parents to choose from three recorded messages -- a "well done call," a "could do better" call, or a "must improve or you will get a lump of coal for Christmas" call.

United Press International is a leading provider of news, photos and information to millions of readers around the globe via UPI.com and its licensing services.

With a history of reliable reporting dating back to 1907, today's UPI is a credible source for the most important stories of the day, continually updated - a one-stop site for U.S. and world news, as well as entertainment, trends, science, health and stunning photography. UPI also provides insightful reports on key topics of geopolitical importance, including energy and security.

A Spanish version of the site reaches millions of readers in Latin America and beyond.

UPI was founded in 1907 by E.W. Scripps as the United Press (UP). It became known as UPI after a merger with the International News Service in 1958, which was founded in 1909 by William Randolph Hearst. Today, UPI is owned by News World Communications.